Ray Rice’s Terrible Towel usage upsets LaMarr Woodley

Posted by Josh Alper on November 20, 2012, 11:35 AM EDT

AP

The Ravens and Steelers rivalry needs no extra fuel, but the Week 13 rematch might have gotten some after Sunday night’s 13-10 Ravens win.

Ravens running back Ray Rice walked off the field waving a Terrible Towel at the Pittsburgh crowd. As any longtime watchers of the NFL are surely aware, the Steelers and their fans do not take kindly to players from opposing teams touching the yellow pieces of cloth. If they weren’t they got a reminder from Steelers linebacker LaMarr Woodley.

Woodley later tweeted a picture of Rice with the towel on his head, along with a warning for Rice to pay attention to what happened to T.J. Houshmandzadeh (although Woodley refers to him as T.J. Whosyourmama) and LenDale White after they crossed a line that Pittsburgh would prefer you don’t cross. Houshmandzadeh, then with the Bengals, wiped his cleats with a Terrible Towel during a 2005 game and White stomped on one after the Titans beat the Steelers in 2008. Both the Bengals and Titans crashed out of the playoffs early despite winning their divisions with the Steelers taking out the Bengals (and quarterback Carson Palmer) in the first instance.

The Steelers went on to win the Super Bowl that year and they won it again after White’s use of the sacred in Pittsburgh towel. We imagine Woodley and anyone else concerned about the Steelers would trade a towel on Rice’s head for a Super Bowl hat trick.

Considering that Pittsburgh Steeler fans are the worst in the NFL with regard to sportsmanship, ethics, and intelligence, I find any use of their urine yellow towel to flaunt their team’s loss to be both acceptable and necessary. It is time their repugnant fans are treated with the contempt and disdain that they deserve. A Steeler loss is truly a great thing and anything that can be used to rub it in is perfectly acceptable.

In fact, that Raven player should get some bonus for going right to the heart of those pathetic neanderthal fans.

Who knew Rice was a steeler fan!!! Sorry, Ray the steelers will never sign you……He shouldn’t be waving anything after the steelers shut him down. This will come back to haunt the Ratbirds as usual when their one and done in the playoffs.

Get over it steelers, you let the ravens come in to your house and beat you, no excuses. You deserve a little humiliation.
Next time maybe try winning.

jpoppl says:Nov 20, 2012 12:22 PM

Sour grapes people. Hate to break it to you laserw but Steeler fans are far from the worst fans in the league. I have been to a few stadiums and Pitt is far from the worst if you are a visiting fan. Just ask the 12 year old Packer fan that lost his hat in a puddle or the bloodied Vikings fan both in Philly.
Where is the ravenhater?
The Steelers are banged up and limping. Remember though if it isn’t this year or next they will soon be back in the driver’s seat. So get over yourself.

For those of you that don’t know, the Towel, which was created by the late Myron Cope, is owned by Allegheny Valley School, and the proceeds go to supporting the 1,000+ students who are either mentally challenged or have a physical defect.

To disgrace the Towel is more than simply disgracing the Steelers, but to slap in the face of those kids.

Reality is, when people disrespect the Towel, BAD things happen to them. In more cases than mentioned above, other teams have disrespected and paid the price as well.

Not that I like the terrible towel, As a matter of fact I put it up there with the “Homer Hanky” as one of the most irritating things that fans use, but in saying that, I would treat it with total respect. I’d much rather sleep with that damn thing and win a Super Bowl, then clean my shoes with it and watch my team bow out of the playoffs early.

ravenator says:Nov 20, 2012 12:38 PM

Their players, their fans and the organization is still crying. Priceless.

ravenator says:Nov 20, 2012 12:40 PM

Are steeler players and fans still crying?

steelernator says:Nov 20, 2012 12:40 PM

Rice was using the towel to cry in after the Steelers defense shut him completely down, just like they did to Flacco, the NFL’s most elite QB. The Steeler defense shut down the starting first team Ravens high-powered offense the entire game.

The Steelers will make the playoffs this year, don’t worry. So much chest-bumping going on by Ravens after this game, when the reality is that the Ravens won only due to a special teams gaffe and the Steelers second string Qb playing with broken ribs the entire game such that he couldn’t effectively throw the ball. That’s right. If they meet in the playoffs and Ben plays, the Ravens go down easily. Then all this premature chest-bumping is wasted, so enjoy it while it lasts.

You will hear this now it has not been brought up in a few years. There is a Terrible Towel buried under the turf at M&T Stadium. That was brought to Myron Copes attention when the stadium opened. So we will see in two weeks why you let sleeping dogs lay. 9-5 at M&T since it opened.

bradshawlives says:Nov 20, 2012 1:11 PM

It’s a frickin’ towel, mass produced in a factory. It’s not sacred. It’s a yellow piece of cloth.

Im not a huge Steelers supporter at all however they havevlots of history and this is disrespectful. Its there tradition and it should not be mocked. No different then when other teams come to Green Bay and copy the Lambeau Leap. Start your own traditions and comw ue up with orginal stuff. No respect for players who mock other teams traditions.

For folks beating the monotonous, tired old drum of “all Steeler fans this” and “Broncos fans that” and whatever need to remember the ancient wisdom of “generalizations are generally stupid.”

For every loser fan of a team there’s thousands of cool ones. You just need to start hanging out somewhere else, or maybe start bathing regularly…

— Steeler fan that has friends from Browns, 49ers, Redskins……

dunnd4d4 says:Nov 20, 2012 1:48 PM

We are deep at RB…not scared.

ftomasic1961 says:Nov 20, 2012 1:50 PM

yup, as another poster said, and i will add to it, ray rice was stuffed, flacco was stuff, tory smith was stuffed…your got a punt return with the block in the back missed….you beat up on a 2nd string qb with two cracked ribs….and our running back ran all over you….

All I remember is T.J. Houshmandzadeh catching the game-winning TD against the Steelers two years ago as a member of the Ravens. I guess Woodley doesn’t remember that….one of many home losses to the Ravens.

stoogy says:Nov 20, 2012 2:19 PM

What running back ran all over the ravens?

cd_ridge says:Nov 20, 2012 2:33 PM

I am not sure why Rice is waving the towel. Rice was bottled up all game. He did not beat the Steelers. The punt return for TD and the turnovers gotten by the Ravens Defense won the game for them.

Woodley, feel free to channel your contempt for what Rice did into the game in two weeks. While I take my hat off to the Ravens for beating us in Pittsburgh, is Ray Rice really the guy to be waving that towel? I mean the Steelers D completely shut him down and had him make them a sammitch afterwards. 40 yards on 20 carries? Talk about a non-factor in the game.

While it isn’t classy to disgrace the Terrible Towel and in turn the Steelers fans, it’s not like it is a country’s flag. It’s going a bit over board to treat as some kind of symbol that goes beyond the NFL. It’s a cheer enhancer. Sure the proceeds go to a good cause and if someone steps on it riles up the Steelers players, but it’s still there for fans to wave around. No one has been mortally wounded.

flaccodelic says:Nov 20, 2012 2:47 PM

Thou shalt not worship false idols.

Also thou shalt not mass produce items and then claim they are somehow sacred, but only if in the hands of 1/32 of NFL team’s fanbase. Cause that just makes no sense.

6ringsandarapist says:Nov 20, 2012 3:17 PM

BooHoo….we choked (again )

feadshipman says:Nov 20, 2012 3:37 PM

The Steelers stole the towel idea from the Miami Dolphins who used the white hankies in the 1972 Superbowl season, the towels came later. So in fact its a stolen tradition from a team that was far superior to them during that time.

If you don’t want people making fun of your silly yellow towel, stop waving around a silly yellow towel.

edisbetterthantroy says:Nov 20, 2012 9:13 PM

Ray Rice is one of the classier athletes in sports and a great role model. This is just silly. Google his name and take a look at all of his off the field philanthropy.

It’s a towel, guys. When I went to both Orioles’ home playoff games, you know what they gave out to every fan? A rally towel. Get over it. It’s about as standard in sports as a foam finger.

Wake me up when you start arguing over things that matter. Quit crying. Maybe a little voodoo towel magic will help since the Ravens have won three in a row. If that’s what will help you get over it and expect a turnaround, good luck.

Thank you #27 for all that you do in the community!

footballfan says:Nov 21, 2012 8:15 AM

I gotta say, After reading this I believe that the Ravens fans are actually worse than Steelers fans. I never though I would see the day…..